Automobile trunk



Feb. 5, 1935. DIETRlCH 1,990,271

AUTOMOBILE TRUNK Filed May '7, v1932 .2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 5, 1935. IM. G. DIETRICH 1,990,271

AUTOMOBILE I TRUNK Filed May '7, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Imz? PatenteclFeb. 5, 1935 1,990,271 AUTOMOBILE TRUNK I -Michacl= G. nietriehmauia'ruIdaho Ap lication-May 7-, 1932,. swarm. 609,889 3131mm;(01.224 49) Thisinvention relates to trunksandfmore particularly to a trunk adapted tobe mounted on a:

motor vehicle or the like;

An object-of this invention isto provide a f trunk 'or articlecarrying:case which is so constructed thatqit can be usedto: carry articles of,

various sizes and particularly' articles having a.

length in excess of the-depth and widthv of the trunk. v

Another object of thisinvention isv to provide a trunk of this kindwhich has a swingable rear wall structure for extendingthewrear walliso'that relatively large articles. may-be carried within the. trunk bodywhich is noti'possible witlra: trunk: havinga fixedicapacity; i

'A furtherobject of this invention .isfto. pro vide in a. trunk of thiskind releasable locking means'for locking. the trunk in its extendedposition 1 as well. as. when closed;

A still further object of this invention isto.

provide a swingable rear wall structure which can'be either raised orlowered'depending on the; size of the articles which it. is desiredto-placein the trunk, the lowering-of the rearvwall permitting articlesof a leng'thgreater than the extended portion of thextr'unk: to.beFca-rried thereby. s j Still another object. of: this. invention; isitoprovide a trunk' having. an:extensiblegbottom; which .is slightlyelevated toward the. rear, thus. keeping articles longer than; thetrunkiwhen extended, from xworking backward.

The invention will be"deSCribediinLdetaiI in.

the accompanying :description: and illustrated in thedrawingawhereimjFigure '1 isxadetail perspective view; of artrunk constructedaccording'rxto: the; preferred embodi-.- ment of this. inventionninopenposition. 1

Figures 2: is: a sectional: view. taken, substan-' tially through thecenter off. the trunk and-show;- ing: the; trunk in extended fposition.

I Figure 3. is a sectional viewitakeneomthe line Br-3 of Figure2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on theline 4--4 of;Figurerl Figure 5. is a fragmentary sectional'vi'ew' taken.

on the line 5'5 of Figure 1."

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional .view taken on the line 66iofFigure-. 2.

Referring to the drawings wherein likenumetals of reference designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10designates generally a trunkbbdycomprising abottom Wa11--1{1 arearwal1'13, and 'end walls 12.

A lid' or cover=14- ishingedly' carried by the rear wall 13 and ismaintained in openposition. by

means ofaslotted link 15. Thislink"15;is:.piv-

otallyrcarried by a bracket- 16 mounted on. an.

inwardly extending, flange. 1'7 carried by the; rear wall .13, andan.L-shaped bracket. 18 is mounted. on the lid.14 and provided'witha headedpin 19.

loosely disposed inthe l- -.shaped: slotr20/providedz in the link: 15.Through. .the provision of: this:

L-shaped or angular slot; 20, thelid 14 can be;

maintained in upright... or open. position, de sired.

The lid 14 is provided with marginali flanges.

2011;: which extend about the. outer surface of the end walls 12 andthe: front walli21'. Thissfront. wall 21 is-hinged at'the lower edge.thereof, ;as" at 22, to the forward edge of the bottom;11,and* atzeach.end thefront wall121: is providediwith angular members 23 which haveone leg ;thereof' riveted, as 1 at 24, to the front wall 21andrthe;

other leg is adapted to slidably engage: theiouter" surface ofthe endwall 12. v a

An inner endwall 25is secured to: the frontrwall 21' and is slidablewithin: the .end I wall"v '12:. and providedwith an. upper inwardlyextendingv flange;

26. havingfan aperture. 27"-adjacent the forward 'endithereofwithinwhich'a locking pin 28:;carried byv areleasable locking lever. 291isadapted to. be. disposed A spring-.303carriedLby -the inwardly extendingvflange 17' engages .the'levers29 so as to constantly urge :thislever29. into. locking position. The front wall 21 has. an inwardlyextending; flange; 31, which cooperates with the. flanges. 1'1

and; 261 in providing a reinforcing rimrfor the walls, of the trunk 10;

. r A pivotedwall32 ispivotedras' .at33tokthelnwardly: extending flangeBland when the trunk is inmollapsedposition aszshdwn. in Figure '1', thepivoted wall 31 will be dependinglydisposed closel-yiadjacent' the frontwall 21.", In this manner, the .trunkf as shown in Figure "1, can ;be.fi11ed with the desired articles and the pivotedrwall" 32 .will not takeup undue space within the trunkzbodm.

In, order to provide means whereby the trunk 10; may be, releasablylocked inopen .or'extendedposition, I have provided a locking meansincluding'a resilient bar 34 which isnriveted or secured, asat 35, tothe inner end wall 25 and is provided with a revertedend portion36,wh.ich is adapted toengage in a slot orfopening 37xprovid'ed in theouter. end wall 12 when the forward 7 wall 211s lowered, as 'showninFigure 2; This locking member 34 prevents forward movement of the frontwall 21 and theinner end walls 25.be;-

- yond the opening 37. V 0; i A releasable locking member: 38i. issecured,i; as;

at 39,to the inner end wall above the holding member 34 and is providedwith an outwardly extending locking pin engageable in an opening 41provided in the outer end wall 12, so that when the forward portion ofthe trunk is in its extended position, it will be releasably looked andcannot be collapsed or moved into the position shown in Figure 1 untilthe locking bar 38 is. released through the medium of a pivotedreleasing member 42 which is carried by the end wall 25.

" This releasing member 42 is provided with a taperingend portion 43anda lug 44 at the end oppositely from the tapering portion 43, this lug?44 providing anoperating means for swinging the of the wall member 21.

releasing lever 42. The tapering portion43 is adapted to engage betweenthe resilient locking bar 38 and the inner end wall 25 and movement ofthis tapering portion 43 toward the rivets'39' or fixed end portion ofthe'resilient bar 38; will cause the locking member 38 to be movedinwardly and carry'the 1ockingpin'40 outof the aperture'41.

" When the forward wall'21 is in the position shown in Figure 2,theipivoted wall. 32 may. be

left in either horizontaliposition or maybe swung in vertical position,as shown in Figure 2,.and in this position is releasably locked by meansof a resilient locking member 45 having an outturned end portion 46engagingtheinner, surface of the pivoted wall 32, the locking membermay. be

pressed outwardly toward the end wall25r and in this position, theextension 46 will be positioned in an opening 146a intheiwall 25, andthe wall 32 may then be swung inwardly. .The flange 26 isprovided'jwithan inwardly extending pin 47. and

the pivotedwall 32 has'an aperture adjacent each end thereof toreceivethis pin 47 and when the wall is engaged with this pin'47, the inner endwalls 125 will beheld against spreading. It will, of course, beunderstood that the lid for the trunk, when it is in its extendedposition, will be normally maintained in open position by the bar 15,but

' it can be loweredeven though the trunkis in its 7 extended position,better allowing a canvashood over the entire trunk to keep out rainanddust. In the use of thisldevic'e, when the trunk is in its collapsedposition, as'shown' in Figure 1, it

may be filled with desired articles, and the trunk canbe providedwithsuitablelocking means, not

the machine. JWhen it is desired to carry articles T which are of thesize that they cannotbe carried within the trunk in its collapsedposition, as shown inFigure 1, theforward'wallf21 canibe swung;

downwardly by'pressing the locking lever 29 upwardly so as to depress,the locking pins '28 'and permit the inner walls 25to move with thefor-' ward wall 21.

f The use of the'pivoted' wall 32 is optional, depending. on thecharacter ofthe articles tobe placed within' the extendedtrunkas ifdesired,

this pivoted wal132 can 'beleft in substantially horizontal position orcan be raised'and locked inits'upraisedposition through the medium ofthe locking. member 45, andthe locking pins 47 will'engage in theapertures provided adjacent each end of the wall 32, soas to preventspreading of the inner or extensible end walls '25. As the forward wall21 is swung downwardly, thelocking bars 34 and 38 will engageinthe'apertures 37 and 41,i respectively, so-as toreleasably lock thecollapsed position; i

, 3; A trunk, as setforth,,,comprising atrunk ends 25 of the trunk inthe extended position of the trunk.

When it is desired to again, collapse the trunk,

the releasing levers 42 may be swung upwardly so as to carry the lockingpins 40 out of the apertures 41, and due to the inclination of thelooking portion 36 of the locking bar 34, the forward thereby permittingthis locking member 38 to again move into locking position upon loweringIt is,;*of course, understood that various changes andmodifications maybe'niade in the details of construction and-design of the abovespeciflcallydescribed embodiment of this invention without departingfrom thespirit thereof, such changes and v modifications beingrestricted onlyby. the scope of the following claims;

What is claimed is:--'

' 1. A trunk as setforth, j a a body includingside andend wallsga'bottomwall and a hinged closure, means for hingedly mount'-.

ing one of the sidewalls to thebottom wallyfor movement outwardlyinto:extended horizontal position, inner end walls carriedby the hinged sidewall for movement therewith, releasable locking means carried by said,inner end wallsv and'engaging the first named end walls to re-" leasablylock the inner endwalls andthe hinged sidewall in extendedposition', asecond hinged side wall, means for hingedly mounting said sec-' ondhinged sidewallon said first side wall, re-

leasable locking means for locking said second I hinged, side wall insubstantially verticalposition when said first hingedv side wall is inextended horizontal position, a lock releasing means for said firstmentionedlocking means,- and'releas-r able locking means carried by,the'other side wall of the trunklbody andlengaging'the inner end wallsfor releasably locking the first hinged side,

wall in collapsediposition. v

, 2." A trunk asfset forth, comprising "a trunk body including side andend walls, a bottom upperedgeof said hinged side wall, a second side 1wall hingedly carried by said flange of said hinged sidewall, releasable"locking means l carried by the inner-endwalls for releasably lock-i ingthe second hinged side. wall in vertical posi-' tion whensaidfirstchinged side :wall is in extended horizontal position, meanscarried bythe inner wall flanges and" engaging the second hinged sidewall to prevent spreadingof the inher end walls'whenin extendedposition, and;

means carried by the other side wall of the body and engaging theinnerwall fiangesto releasably lock the hinged side walls and inner end.walls in body including side and end walls, a bottom wall and a hingedtop, means for pivotally mounting one of the side walls on the bottomwall for' movement of said one side wall into horizontal,

position, inner extensible end wall members carried by said one sideWall whereby to provide extensible end Walls, means engaging said latterend wall members and said first end walls to releasably lock said oneside wall and extensible end Walls in extended position, a' lockreleasing means carried by one of the inner end walls for releasing saidlocking means, a second locking means for locking said one side wall inupright position, said means including an apertured flange carried by aninner end wall, a flange carried by the other side wall, and a springpressed locking member mounted on said second flange and engageable insaid aperture of said inner end wall flange.

MICHAEL G. DIE'I'RICH.

